That Time I Got Turned Into a Dragonoid

Frustration

The beautiful night—at least for the Victoria kingdom and its queen, Cecilia—finally gave way to morning rays of golden light that poured across the land, bathing everything in their embrace.The night had surely been beautiful for Cecilia. She was ready to spread news of her victory and triumph throughout the world and make every Almeidan citizen feel ashamed.

And why wouldn't she? She might have been the first to win a war in a single night.

Of course, Almeida's army had retreated on its own, but they hadn't asked for truce or peace for one night where both parties agreed. They just left—just like that. Retreating from the battlefield without any explanation could only mean they had fled.

Her army was already having a champagne party with dances to celebrate their overwhelming victory.

Meanwhile, Mystveil's situation was completely different. In the same basement of the royal palace of Mystveil, all the important people had already gathered.

Almost all of them wore grim and solemn expressions.

"Why? Why did you order to retreat? Don't tell me you're afraid," Warlord Xeno shouted. She was the ancestor of Prince Vladimir and founder of the Holy Knights.

Her angry gaze was locked on Vesilisa, the captain of the Holy Knights, who sat quietly with a serene face.

"You don't understand. We are supposed to be the saviors of humanity, at least on the surface. She made King Leonidas come back to life. There's no doubt he's real, not a fake one. Not to forget, this morning another news came that a two-thousand-year-old statue of the goddess of beauty and battle was found, and somehow its appearance is exactly like Scarlett Nova," Vesilisa explained calmly.

"Don't tell me that woman is actually the goddess's incarnation. They must have realized we're just using them to have control over humanity, becoming their leader, and must have decided to snatch that authority herself," Arthur presented another logical factor, adjusting his glasses.

"It's been more than a thousand years. Why now? And we all know those goddesses know of it as well, They only care about getting followers and their faith. So we only did them a favor by promoting their religion till this day," Vladimir added. His answer definitely made sense.

Holy Knights got to become leaders of humanity, everyone trusted them, and in return, they promoted the worship of goddesses. It was an unspoken deal between them.

At that moment, Xeno stomped her feet in anger, but her teenage frame made it look somewhat cute.

"Urgh... You didn't answer my question. Why did you retreat? Just because of some critiques you'll receive from commoners? Who cares? It only took a decade for the whole world to forget all the massacres I did. Just kill that damn woman and get over with it. At best, their aggression will go on for a few months. After that, they'll have to go back to their daily lives," Xeno said, a dark grin appearing on her face.

But Vesilisa shook her head and sighed. "Today's generation is different from yours. There are journalists, newspapers, and so many things. People won't forget easily. It'll also damage the reputation of the Holy Knights," Vesilisa added.

"Our goal is important, but we also need to continue leading humanity after that. So keep your malice in that little head of yours," she added, her lips twitching slightly.

"You! I'm your senior, so better give me some respect, junior," Xeno added, crossing her arms with a sneer.

"You were. Now it's me. You established the Holy Knights to control humanity from the shadows, but we are the ones who achieved that goal, not you. So better give some respect to us." Vesilisa replied.

"As if," Xeno sneered again, looking away.

At that moment, another warlord, Ashford, who had been quietly sitting at the back, finally spoke.

"So we won't fight now? All the previous plans were for nothing?" he asked, feeling confused.

"No, it's not like that—" Vesilisa was about to answer when a tall figure entered the room, wearing heavy knight armor.

He was none other than Sparda.

"Do you all have nothing to do except sit in the basement?" he said in cold tone.

He didn't like them one bit, especially the Holy Knights. He was one of those people who knew the reality of the Holy Knights.

For mundane people, Holy Knights were the highest figures. Becoming a Holy Knight was every warrior's biggest dream.

They were chivalry, brave, intelligent, and powerful—they led humanity and made sure the demon kings could never capture human lands and spread tyranny.

And one day, they and summoned heroes would defeat all the demon kings, bringing peace to the whole world, where everyone would be happy without fear of demons and monsters.

But in reality, Holy Knights were tyrants themselves. They exploited all resources for their own benefit.

They wouldn't hesitate to kill millions who favored them. And that was just what they did—to achieve their unknown goal to fulfill their wishes, they caused vast levels of unknown kidnapping to kill them and collect their souls.

He clearly knew that Holy Knights would never kill the demon king, even if they could, or let anyone kill one. Because once demon kings were gone, humans wouldn't need Holy Knights anymore.

Thus, their influence would gradually grow weak.

But right now, he had no other choice. There was another bigger foe: Scarlett Nova, who might take over the world or maybe even eradicate the existence of humans—who knew?

At least Holy Knights protected humans sometimes because they needed humans to receive their benefits.

Another reason was that he had no other choice. He was summoned as a warlord, so he had to fulfill his task.

"Lord Sparda, we are not chatting. It's a serious meeting," Vladimir smiled, answering nonchalantly.

"Besides, are you done gathering information around? I'm pretty sure you finally realized the truth that the bigger enemy here is that woman, not us," he added.

Sparda had said that first he would evaluate the situation if what Vladimir and others were saying was actually true. Only then would he fully cooperate.

He met with other royals of Mystveil and even went to Almeida for a few days to know the situation.

But of course, it was just as Vladimir had said because he didn't know that Vladimir had a unique skill that could manipulate memories. Of course, all spoke in favor of him.

Sparda nodded. "Yes, I'll give my full cooperation. Of course, the rest is up to you how you use me," he said in his usual cold tone and left.

"We shouldn't have summoned him," Arthur sighed quietly, adjusting his glasses again.

Others clearly ignored his words, and then Vesilisa continued.

"So where was I? Yes, it's not like that. It was just part of the reason why I ordered to retreat," she said.

"Actually, we have underestimated her even now. Now we know that she has powers to bring the dead back to life and that the kingdom of Gwarga is with her, which clearly makes our previous plans where we would send about fifty or so thousand elite soldiers using Gwarga's teleportation portal and keep them busy while we carry out the ritual," she explained.

"Now, without help from Gwarga, we can send about twenty thousand elite soldiers at best. Even then, she has the power of resurrection, so our army won't last long. They won't buy us much time," Vesilisa added, explaining with a serene expression, though her tone was heavy.

Vladimir raised his hand. "Yes, and I also received information that a new demon king has emerged. Although we don't know the name, who knows if they both might cooperate."

"Yes, and most importantly, the ritual itself is our biggest weakness. None of us have enough mana to carry out the whole ritual in private. Even our combined mana won't be enough," Vesilisa spoke again.

"That is why we need to use the natural mana that exists in the environment, and for that, the ritual must be carried out in the open. Its suction force will surely be seen by anyone far away, and someone like her would definitely realize that something wrong is happening," she said.